The present inventors are aware of prior art that provides a wide variety of rotary or oscillating surface preparation and finishing tools, which can be collectively referred to as “surface care tools,” as well as related attachments, including “surface care media,” for such tools. Indeed, rotary or oscillating surface preparation and finishing tools are well known in the art. Such surface care tools include, among others, rotary, dual action, oscillating, random orbital or other motion-controlled tools or hand fixtures. A wide variety of attachments for use with such tools also exists and such attachments are similarly known in the art. The available attachments may be attached to and detached from a drive spindle by use of a variety of attachment means. The most typical attachment means is to provide a mechanism for securing the backing plate of a surface preparation or finishing media, such as a buffing pad, directly to the threaded spindle of the rotary or oscillating surface preparation or finishing tool. In the environment where surface preparation or finishing tools of this nature are typically used, however, it is desirable to provide means whereby the backing plate of the surface preparation or finishing media is also quickly and easily removed from the surface care tool. However, mounting of the backing plate in the aforementioned fashion typically is not quick or easy. That is, doing so most frequently requires screwing the attachment on and off by hand, with significant pressure being required to remove the attachment the longer the attachment has been used.
Accordingly, alternative designs of a “quick release” configuration have also included a backing plate that uses Velcro®-type hook and loop surface technology whereby the surface care media (via loops, for example) is attached to the backing plate (via hooks, for example) and the backing plate is, in turn, attached to the spindle of the rotary or oscillating surface preparation or finishing tool. In this type of application, the media itself is provided with a separate backing surface in order to provide sufficient structural support for the loops that are used to connect the media to the backing plate. In addition to increasing the number of different materials that are required to be used with this type of configuration, as well as increasing its complexity, this type of attachment configuration also frequently suffers from precise centering of the surface preparation or finishing media relative to the backing plate. This, in turn, directly results in “wobbling” of the surface preparation or finishing media that is attached to the backing plate during use. That is, there is a problem with the “concentricity” of the media relative to the backing plate. The obvious intended purpose of this type of configuration is to allow the user to minimize handling of the surface preparation or finishing media. However, misalignment and the presence of wobble in the media will often require to user to detach and then re-attach the surface preparation or finishing media several times before this “wobble” is minimized or eliminated. Even a minimal amount of wobble can compromise the quality and consistency of the surface finishing result. Increased wobble can also increase operator fatigue and create the potential for long-term user injury from repeated wobbling vibrations. Furthermore, it is also known to these inventors that the more the media and backing plate is rotated, the more difficult it is to detach the media from the backing plate, as more force or pressure is required to effect this detachment.
In the view of these inventors, there is a clear need to provide an improved system and apparatus that comprises a backing plate with attached surface preparation or finishing media which allows the user to quickly and easily remove the backing plate and its attached media from the surface care tool. By permanently attaching the surface care media to the backing plate, the inadequacies of the hook and loop attachment system are eliminated and this construction would improve the durability of the media. This is true especially around chemicals that are used with the media and in view of washings that are intended to extend the useful life of the surface care media.
There is a need to provide such a system and apparatus while also orientating the backing plate and its associated surface care media in such a way that the spindle of the surface care tool is precisely centered relative to the backing plate and the surface care media that is attached to it. In this fashion, the consistency of the surface preparation and finishing result is enhanced by means of balanced concentricity of the media, which would eliminate wobble, and improve the quality and consistency of the surface finish. What is also needed is such a system and apparatus that utilizes a minimal number of elements and a minimal number of steps to use, thereby making the system and apparatus one that is easy and simple to use, as well as one that minimizes handling of the surface care media and thereby reduces the time to change worn pads or to transition to a different type of pad that would be needed for the next phase of a surface care project. This type of a system and apparatus would also minimize cross-contamination of pads with surface particulate from other previously-used pads or media.
What is also needed is such a system and apparatus that results in securely attaching the backing plate and its associated surface care media to the surface care tool such that the backing plate will not inadvertently detach from the surface care tool under normal use conditions. What is also needed is such a system and apparatus that is versatile such that it also allows the user to alternatively utilize the backing plate with the threaded spindle of a conventional surface care tool when such is desired or required by the user.